Balling-machine.



mm mm mm mm u Am APPLIOATION FILED JUL! 7, 190B.

Patented Mar.2,1909.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

A. B. RHOADES.

BALLING MACHINE.

APPLICATION rum) JULY 7, 190a.

Patented Mar. 2, 1909.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

yea -ceases,

izuwl QM.

111 wmoz.

A. E. RHOADES.

BALLING MA CHINE. APPLIOATION rILnn JULY 7, 1908.

Patented Mar.2, 1909.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

A. E. mums.-

' BALLING MACHINE.

APPLIUATIION FILED JULY 7, 1008. I

913,980. Patented Mar. 2, 1909.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

v UNITED STATES'PATENT FFTCE.

ALONZO E. RHOADES, OF I-IOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO DRAPER COMPANY,

OF HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

BALLING-MA CHINE Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 2, 1909.

Application filed Jilly '7, 1908. Serial No. 442,340.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALONZO E. RIIOADES, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Hopedale, county of Worcester, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improve ment in Balling-Machines, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification, like characters on the drawing representing like parts.

This invention has for its object the production of novel mechanism for winding what is technically termed a chain of warp onto a beam or roll to form a so-called ball, the warp yarns or threads being taken from spools or bobbins on a creel and gathered together into the chain in well known manner. The chain is led through a suitable guide-eye or trumpet which is traversed in parallelism with the axis of rotation of the beam to lay the chain of yarn helically from end to end of the ball. Heretofore the traverse of the trumpet has been effected by means of a double or crossing screw-shaft which is expensive to construct, inasmuch as the double thread has to be carefully turned with a great deal of accuracy, the trumpet having a nut or follower to cooperate with the thread.

In my present invention, I have obviated the use of the screw-shaft and have devised simple and effective means for traversing the trumpet or guide and for reversing its movement at the end of each stroke.

The cylinders or drums on which the ball rests and by which it is rotated during the winding rotate at a constant speed, the said drums being driven in any convenient manner, as for instance substantially as shown in United States patent to Straw No. 379616, dated March 20, 1888.

The various novel features of my invention will be fully described in the subj oined specification and particularly pointed out in the following claims.

Inasmuch as the yarn or thread .is taken from the spools or bobbins of the creel frame in usual manner, through a reed and over and under usual rolls of a warping machine, I have not shown herein either the creel frame or the warping machine, as they are well known in the art and form no part of my invention.

Figure 1 is a front elevation, centrally broken out, of a balling machine embodying my present invention, the ball being shown in dotted lines; Fig. 1 is a detail to be referred to; Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus, also centrally broken out, but omitting the ball Fig. 3 is a right-hand side elevation of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1, the upright guideways for the ournals of the ball roll or cylinder being broken off; Fig. 4 is a left-hand side elevation of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a detail, partly in section on the line 55, Fig. 1, looking to ward the left, of the trumpet and parts 00- operating therewith; Fig. 6 is a detail of some of the parts shown inFig. 4, but with a portion of the frame broken out to more clearly illustrate the parts behind it; Fig. 7 is a section on the line 77, Fig. 6, showing the clutch mechanism, whereby the reversal of movement of the trumpet is effected, as will be explained hereinafter; Fig. 8 is a detail of the traverse nut to be referred to.

Referring to the drawings, the sides 1 of the main frame are of suitable size and shape to provide bearings for horizontal shafts 2 and 3, on which are mounted the driving drums D and D in parallelism between the frame sides, said shafts having fast thereon gears 4 and 5, Fig. 1, meshing with an intermediate gear 6, rotatable on a stud 7 mounted on the frame, the shaft 2 being the primary actuating shaft and driven in suitable manner, as hereinbeforc mentioned.

Standards 8 on the framesides have open slots 9 to receive the journals of the ball roll or cylinder on which the ball 10, sec dotted lines Fig. 1, is wound, the slots being closed by arms 11, F .igs. 3 and 4, substantially as in United States Patent No 867153, granted to me September 2 1, 1907.

The driving drums are rotated in the same direction at the same speed, and the ball 10 is supported thereby, and is rotated by sur' face contact with the drums, the journals of the ball roll rising in the guideways 9, as the diameter of the ball increases.

The shaft 3 is extended through the right hand side of the frame, and has fast upon it a gear 12, 2, in mesh with a pinion 13 fast on a shaft 1 1, see dotted lines Fig. 2, rotatably mounted in a bracket 15, said shaft having at its outer end a second pinion 16. This second pinion, as shown in Fig. 3,

meshes with a gear 17, Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 7, rotatably mounted on a sleeve 18 rigidly held in a bracket 19 secured to or forming a part of the main frame. The gear 12 is in continuous engagement with a gear 20 rotatably mounted on a sleeve 21, Fig. 7, fixedly secured in the main frame 1, the sleeves 18 and 21 being co-axial, and forming bearings for a shaft 22 rotatable and also ongitudinally movable in the sleeves, and similarly mounted in a bearing 23 on the opposite frameside. The gears 17 and 20 are provided respectively on their inner faces with clutch teeth 17 X and 20 either of which will cooperate with a double clutch member 24 fixedly secured to the shaft 22 as by a set screw 25, Fig. 7, movement of the said shaft to the right, viewing Fig. 7, clutching the gear 17, while the gear 20 is in clutch and rotates with the shaft, as shown in Fig. 7.

Remembering that the shafts 2 and 3 are always rotated in the direction of the arrow 26, Fig. 3, it will be-manifest that the gear 20 will be rotated in the opposite direction, as it meshes directly with the gear 12, while the gear 17 will be rotated in the direction of the arrow 26, as it is driven from the gear 12 through the intermediate pinions 13 and 16, and as one or the other of the gears 17 or 20 is clutched to the shaft 22, the latter will be rotated in the direction of or opposite to the arrow 26. Said shaft has fast upon it a gear 27 in mesh with a wide-faced pinion 28, see

Figs. 1 and 2, fast on a shaft 29 rotatablyv mounted in the sides of the frame and having a longitudinally-extending key-way 30.

A threaded nut 31, shown separately in Fig. 8, is provided with a key 32, which slidably enters the key-way 30, the nut having hubs 33, rotatably mounted in depending ears 34 secured to or forming part of a carriage 35 to which is attached the trumpet 36 of usual construction, and through which the yarn chain passes to the ball, the ears 34 positioning the nut with relation to the car riage, as will be manifest.

As the shaft 29 rotates, the nut is rotated by means of the cooperation of the key with the key-way, the threads of the nut engaging a toothed rack 37 extending across the machine and fixedly secured to the side frames 1, so that as the nut is rotated it travels along the rack and hence moves the carriage 35 longitudinally, the upper part of the rack forming a guide 38 for the upper part of the carriage which latter is shaped to embrace the guide as shown at 39, Fig. 5.

In Figs. 1 and 2, the carriage is supposed to be traveling toward the right, the shaft 29 being rotated through the gearing 27, 28, from the shaft 22, the latter at such time being driven through the clutch member 2O on the gear 20.

The rack 37 can be made as a casting, and hence its construction is cheap and easy to effect, while the cooperating nut 31, being in length but a fraction of the ordinary screwshaft heretofore used can be accurately and properly cut at a relatively small cost, as will be evident.

The clutch device is actuated or shifted by simple mechanism to be described, said mechanism being automatically set into condition to operate by or through the travel of the carriage as it nears each end of its stroke, and such clutch-actuating mechanism is rendered operative by controlling means also governed by means on the carriage, but acting only at the instant the shifting of the clutch is required, the whole operation being automatic.

A stand 40 fixedly secured to the floor at the front of the machine has fulcrumed on it at 41 a rocker 42 provided with opposite lateral lugs 43, oppositely located stops 44 on the stand being arranged to cooperate one at a time with the rocker, and in Fig. 1 the left hand stop 44 is in engagement with the adjacent side of the rocker. The rocker has an upturned arm 45 to which is pivotally connected a rod 46 slidably mounted at its left hand end, 1, in a stand 47 rigidly secured to the adjacent side frame 1, said rod being moved longitudinally to the right or left according as the rocker 42 is tilted or rocked on its fulcrum 41. The hub of an arm 48 is loosely mounted on the rocker fulcrum 41, the free end of said arm being enlarged to form an actuating weight 49 provided on its rear face with roller or other studs 50, arranged at opposite sides of a line drawn through the fulcrum 41 and the center of the weight 49, as will be apparent from an inspection of Fig. 1.

The trumpet carriage has extended for wardly therefrom a double-cam 51, 51, apertured at 52, Fig. 5, for a purpose to be described, the two cam faces upwardly converging as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The cams are so located that the traverse of the carriage will bring the leading cam face into engagement with the uppermost stud 50 on the clutch shifting weight 49, so that as the carriage approaches the end of its stroke, said stud will ride up over the cam face, and thereby the weighted arm 48 will be swung into upright position, and then past dead center, so that the arm 48 will drop onto the other side of its center and engage the opposite one of the lugs 43 on the rocker 42.

Referring to Fig. 1, supposing the carriage to be moving to the right, the uppermost stud 50 will be engaged by the right-hand cam face 51, and as the carriage continues its movement to the right, the arm 48 will be thrown over to the right, shifting its weight from the lower lug 43 to the upper lug 43, shown in Fig. 1. The clutch-shifting mechanism is now in its operative condition, but it will not operate until the rocker 42 is free to swing, on the fulcrum 41 to effect a longitudinal movement of the shaft 22.

The rod 46 has fixedly secured to it, near itsleft hand end, two oppositely SliOUldOlt-Xl collars 53, and one or the other collar is normally engaged by a locking dog 54, shown separately in Fig. 1 and having an up turned tail 55. There are two of these dogs pivoted side by side, on a fixed pin 56, the upturnedv tails of the dogs being drawn together by a spring 57, the tails embracing between them a stud 58 carried by a collar 59 adjustably mounted on a releasing rod 60 extended across the front of the frame through the aperture 52 in the carriage, and slidably mounted at one end in the side frame and at its other end in the stand 47. Said rod is prevented from rotating by an attached bifurcated arm 61, straddling a pin 62 on v the stand 47. Adjustable abutments 63, shown as collars, are mounted on the releasing rod 60, near its ends and in the path of movement of trips 64 extended forwardly from the front of the carriage.

Supposing that the carriage has advanced far enough to the right, Figs. 1 and 2, to set into operative condition the clutch shifting or actuating means hereinbefore described, then when the carriage in its continued movement to the right brings the right hand trip 64 into engagement with the abutment 63 at the right, the releasing member or rod 60 will be moved longitudinally to the right, and the stud 58 connected therewith will be swung against the tail of the dog 54 in engagement with the left-hand one of the two stop collars 53. The active dog will thereupon be swung on its pivot 56 out of engagement with the stop 53 and immediately the action of the weight 49 will turn the rocker 42 to the right, Fig. 1, drawing the shifting rod 46 in the same direction, and at the same time thespring 57 will act to throw the right hand one of the dogs down into locking engagementj with its stop collar as soon as the shifting has been effected.

The connection between the shifting rod 46 and the shiftable clutch shaft 22 will now be described.

()ne of the stop collars 53 is provided with a rearwardly extended finger 65, see Fig. 6, which enters the slotted arm 66 of a yoke 67 pivoted at 58 on the stand 47, to swing on an axis at right angles to the rod 46. The turning of the rocker 42 in one direction or the other thus acts through the shifting rod 46 to swing the yoke 67 to the right or left, viewing Fig.1. The rear arm 69 of the yoke is bifurcated as shown in Figs. 4 and 6, its opposite sides or checks being slotted at 70 to receive trunninons 71 of a block 72 through which the clutch shaft 22 is retatably extended, collars 73 fixed on the shaftat opposite sides of the block 72 preventing longitudinal movement of the same relatively to the shaft.

When the yoke 67 is swung on its axis 58 by the shifting of the rocker 42-, the block 72 will be moved to the right or left as the case may be, viewing Fig. 1, to move the shaft 22 in the same direction, and such movement shifts the clutch member 24 into or out of engagement with the clutch teeth 17 X or 20 according to circumstances.

With the parts of the apparatus in the position illustrated, the clutch shifter or actuator 49 will be swung over to the right, Fig. 1, to depress the right hand end of the rocker 42 as soon as the shifting rod 46 is unlocked, as has been described, and when it is unlocked and said rod is moved to the right, then the yoke 67 will be swung to the right Fig. 1, and the shaft 22 will be moved in the same direction by means described, to first disengage the clutch member 24 from the clutch teeth 20 and then to throw said member 24 into cooperation with the clutch teeth 17 so that the rotation of the shaft 22 will be derived through the gear 17, but in a reverse direction. Consequently, the reversal of rotation of the gear 27 fast on said shaft will act through the pinions 28 to reverse the rotation of the shaft 29, and the nut 31 thereon will by its cooperation with the rack 27 cause the carriage to travel to the left. The left hand one of the cam faces 51 will then operate to swing the actuator 49 back into the position shown in the drawing, the right hand dog 54 at such time being in locking engagement with the stop 53. Nothing further will happen, however, until the left hand trip 64 engages the abutment 63, near the left hand side of the machine, to effect the unlocking of the rod 46, whereupon the rocker 42 will be at once moved into the position shown in Fig. 1, and the clutch mechanism will be moved back into the position best illustrated in Fig. 7. By adjusting the abutment 63, the length of traverse of the carriage is increased or decreased according to the desired length for the ball being wound.

It will be understood that the setting of the clutch shifting or actuating mechanism into operative condition is accomplished at any convenient time in the traverse of the carriage, prior to the operation of the releasing means, for after the shifting mech anism is set it operates the instant the release is effected.

By first setting and thereafter releasing the shifting mechanism its operation is quick andprompt, so that the time lost in changing the direction of movement of the earriage at the end of each stroke is reduced to a minimum.

The actuator is made heavy enough to overcome the inertia and friction of the parts to be moved by its operation, and as there is &

nothing but the weighted actuator to be swung in one or the other direction past dead center, to set the clutch shifting mechanism, the work required of the carriage in setting is reduced. Furthermore, this work is the more easily performed owing to the relatively slow action when the cam on the carriage is cooperating with one of the studs on the actuator to move the latter into operative position.

Various changes or modifications may be made in the details of construction and arrangement without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, one practical embodiment of which is herein shown and described.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. The combination, in a balling machine,

of positively driven drums to support and rotate the ball by surface contact therewith, a reciprocating carriage having a guide to deliver the chain of yarn to the ball, a nut rotatably mounted in the carriage, a fixed rack with which said nut cooperates, a shaft to rotate the nut and permit its movement longitudinally, means to rotate the shaft, and mechanism to automatically reverse the direction of its rotation at each end of the stroke of the carriage.

2. In a balling machine, a fixed rack and a guide extended across the machine, a carriage longitudinally movable on the guide and provided with a trumpet for the yarn chain, a threaded nut cooperating with the rack and rotatably mounted on the carriage, combined with a shaft connected with the nut to rotate it while permitting movement longitudinally of the shaft, means to rotate the shaft, and mechanism the operation whereof is governed by the carriage to re verse automatically the direction of rotation of the shaft as the carriage reaches the end of its stroke.

3. In a balling machine, a reciprocating carriage having a guide for the yarn chain, a rotatable nut mounted on the carriage, a fixed rack with which said nut cooperates, and a shaft extended through the nut and connected therewith to rotate it, combined with means, including a clutch, to effect rotation of the shaft in either direction, clutch shifting mechanism set into operative condition by the carriage on each stroke, and means governed by the carriage to permit said mechanism to operate as the carriage reaches the end of each stroke.

4. In a balling machine, a reciprocating carriage having a guide for the yarn chain, actuating means therefor, including a rotatable shaft, and means, including a clutch, to rotate the shaft in either direction, combined with clutch shifting mechanism set into operative condition by temporary cooperation with the carriage on each stroke, a locking device to retain the said mechanism in set position after the carriage has ceased to cooperate therewith, and means operated by the carriage after its temporary cooperation with said mechanism to positively move and render the locking device inoperative and thereby permit said mechanism to operate as the carriage reaches the end of its stroke.

5. In a balling machine, a reciprocating carriage having a guide for the yarn chain, actuating means therefor, including a rotatable shaft, and means, including a clutch, to rotate the shaft in either direction, combined with clutch shifting mechanism including a swinging actuator temporarily engaged and set by the carriage on each stroke,- a device to lock said mechanism automatically and prevent the operation of the actuator when set, and means to release the actuator and permit the operation of said mechanism when the carriage reaches a predetermined point on each stroke.

6. The combination, in a balling machine, of means to rotate the ball, a carriage having a trumpet to guide the yarn chain to the ball, means to reciprocate the carriage, including a rotatable shaft; connections, including a clutch, between the shaft and the ball rotating means, to rotate the shaft in one or the other direction; clutch shifting mechanism including a rocker, and a weighted actuator moved by the carriage to turn the rocker in one or the other direction to shift the clutch a device normally locking the rocker when the actuator is set by the carriage, and means governed by the carriage to release the rocker and permit its operation by the actuator when said carriage reaches the end of each stroke.

7. The combination, in a balling machine, of means to rotate the ball, a longitudinally movable, rotatable shaft, gears rotated in opposite directions by said means and having clutch teeth, a double clutch-member fast on the shaft and adapted to cooperate with either set of clutch teeth and cause rotation of the shaft in one or the other direction a carriage having a guide for the yarn chain, means operatively connected with said shaft to effect traverse of the carriage, and mechanism governed by the latter to move the shaft longitudinally at the end of each traverse, to thereby shift the clutch member and effect reversal of rotation of the shaft.

8. In a balling machine, a reciprocating carriage having a trumpet for the yarn chain, a nut rotatably mounted on the car riage, a fixed rack with which said nut cooperates, a shaft on which the nut is slidably mounted and by which the nut is rotated, and mechanism to rotate the shaft and reverse its rotation at each end of the stroke of the carriage.

9. In a balling machine, a reciprocating carriage having a trumpet for the yarn chain, a nut rotatably mounted on the carriage, a fixed rack with which said nut cooperates, a shaft on which the nut is slidably mounted and by which the nut is rotated, and mechanism to rotate the shaft, combined with reversing means for said shaft, set in operative condition by the carriage before it reaches the end of each stroke, and an instrumentality controlled by the carriage to permit the operation of the reversing means at the end of each stroke of the carriage.

10. In a balling machine, a traversing carriage having a guide for the yarn chain, means, including a rotatable shaft, to effect traverse of the carriage, reversing meehan ism to rotate the shaft first in one and then in the other direction, a weighted actuator for said mechanism set in operative condition by movement of the carriage on each stroke, a normally operative device to lock the actuator in set position and means governed bythe carriage at the end of each stroke to unlock the actuator and permit it to operate, to effect the actuation of the reversing mechanism.

1 1. In a balling machine, positively driven drums to support and rotate the ball, two gears connected with and rotated in opposite directions by one of said drums, a longitudinally movable shaft, means to clutch it to one or the other of said gears by longitudinal movement of the shaft, a carriage having a trumpet for the yarn chain, and connection between said shaft and carriage to traverse the latter, combined with a pivotally mounted, weighted actuator operatively connected with and to shift said shaft longitudinally to effect reversal of its rotation, means governed by the carriage on each stroke thereof to move the actuator into condition to operate, a device to lock the actuator in such operative condition, and means operated by the carriage at the end of each stroke to release the actuator and permit it to operate.

12. In a balling machine, a reciprocating carriage having a guide for the yarn chain, means, including a clutch, to effect its reciprocation, clutch shifting mechanism including a swinging actuator, means actuated by the carriage before the end of each stroke to swing the actuator and thereby place said mechanism in condition to operate, means, including a rod having opposed and adjacent stops thereon and oppositely acting locking dogs cooperating therewith, to retain said mechanism in condition to operate when set by the carriage, means to disengage the active dog from its stop and thereby release the said mechanism when the carriage reaches the end of its stroke, and a spring connecting the dogs and put under tension by disengagement of the active dog to throw the inactive dog into cooperation with its stop to act on the next stroke of the carriage and lock the shifting mechanism when set.

' In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALONZO E. RHOADES.

Witnesses:

ED ARD DANA Oseoon, ALBERT W. EDwARns. 

